Experimental designs

Experimental designs

• True experiment
With-in subject designs
Between subject designs
Small-n’ designs
Mixed designs
• Quasi experiment
True experiment
• It is one of the most accurate forms of research because it
provides specific scientific evidence. out of all the types of
experimental designs, only a true experimental design can
establish a cause-effect relationship within a group.
• However, in a true experiment, a researcher must satisfy
these three conditions:
1.There is a control group that is not subjected to changes and an
experimental group that will experience the changed variables

2.A variable that can be manipulated by the researcher

3.Random assignment of the variables

• Random assignment uses a random process, like a random number
generator, to assign participants into experimental and control groups.
• Random assignment is important in experimental research because it
helps to ensure that the experimental group and control group are
comparable and that any differences between the experimental and
control groups are due to random chance.
Quasi experiment
• The word “Quasi” means similarity. A quasi-experimental
design is similar to a true experimental design. However, the
difference between the two is the:
assignment of the control group. In this research design, an
independent variable is manipulated, but the participants of a group
are not randomly assigned.
• This type of research design is used in field settings where
random assignment is either irrelevant or not required.
Terms to remember
• Control group– the group in an experiment that does not receive the
intervention
• Experimental group- the group in an experiment that receives the
intervention
• Pretest- a measurement taken prior to the intervention
• Posttest- a measurement taken after the intervention
within-subjects design

• Also known as repeated measures design

•  Experimental design in which all participants are exposed to every
treatment or condition
• The term "treatment" is used to describe the different levels of the
independent variable, 
• Variable that's controlled by the experimenter
• All of the subjects in the study are treated with the critical variable in
question
• It does not require a large pool of participants.
•  Also help reduce errors associated with individual differences
• Each participant serves as their own baseline.
• Example of a research scenario using a repeated measures design is to
investigate differences in depression scores before and after cognitive
behavioural therapy.
• This experimental design may be considered problematic due to order
effects, i.e., when the order of the presented conditions affects
participants performance.
Carry over effect
• The participants take part in one condition can impact the performance or
behavior on all other conditions, a problem known as a carryover effect.
• Practice effects
• Fatigue is another potential drawback of using a within-subject design.
Participants may become exhausted, bored, or less motivated after taking
part in multiple treatments or tests.
• For example, p’s may perform better in the second condition because they
know how to perform (practise effect) or may not perform as well due to
fatigue (fatigue effect). 
• For example, p’s may perform better in the second condition because
they know how to perform (practise effect) or may not perform as well
due to fatigue (fatigue effect). 

• Counterbalancing
Counterbalancing methods are used to counteract this. Half of the p’s complete
the first condition first, and the others satisfy the second condition. In this way,
it is possible to determine whether sequence effects influence the results.
between-subjects design

• Also known as independent measure design.

• different participants are used to test each condition of the independent
variable (IV). 
• Participants are randomly assigned to experimental and Control group.
• The goal is to see if one treatment is better than the other
• E.g. A study recruited 20 participants, 10 of whom slept 4 hours and
10 other different participants slept 12 hours. (to attest attention span).
• In any between-subjects design, the experimenter must try to
minimize differences among the subjects in the two or more
treatment groups.
• A more common technique used to ensure that equivalent groups are
formed is randomization.
• Posttest-only control group design- a type of experimental design
that uses random assignment, an experimental, a control group, and a
posttest, but does not utilize a pretest.
Small n designs
• Small n designs: behavior of one or a few subjects is studied
much more intensely.
• Typically, the researcher measures the subject's behavior many
times in one intensive session or a period of weeks, months, or
even years.
• Used in the lab and in the field; can be used to study both
human and animal behavior.
• Subjects not put into groups, but run as individuals.
• Data from Subjects usually not combined but considered separately.
• Data analyzed visually with minimal use of inferential stats.
• Large number of observations.
• Rigid control of the experimental situation (extraneous vars.).
• Focus on powerful IVs.
• Effects replicated in different subjects & different labs
Mixed design
• a study that combines features of both a between-subjects
design and a within-subjects design. Thus, a researcher examines
not only the potential differences between two or more separate
groups of participants but also assesses change in the individual
members of each group over time.
• DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
• Aspects of the experimental situation that demand that people
behave in a particular way.
• In a psychological experiment, a demand characteristic is a subtle cue
that makes participants aware of what the experimenter expects to
find or how participants are expected to behave. Demand
characteristics can change the outcome of an experiment because
participants will often alter their behavior to conform to expectations.
Controlling demand characteristics
• deception is a very common approach. This involves telling participants
that the study is looking at one thing when it is really looking at
something else altogether.
• Single Blind Experiment
• In a single blind study, the participants in the clinical trial do not know if
they are receiving the placebo or the real treatment. 
• the experimenter monitoring the participants knows which individuals
received the placebo and which ones got the treatment under examination.
• Placebo Effect is the result of giving subjects a pill, injection, or other
treatment that actually contains none of the independent variable.
• Experimenter Bias
Experimenter Bias is a type of cognitive bias that occurs when
experimenters allow their expectations to affect their interpretation of
observations.
a researcher’s expectations about how a study will turn out, influence
what they observe.
Controlling experimenter bias

• A double-blind study is a method used in which neither the

participants nor the researchers interacting with them are aware of
the condition to which the participants have been assigned. Having
people who are not aware of the experimenter's hypothesis collect
the data from participants helps reduce the chances that the subjects
will guess what the study is about.